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421Paternalism in economicsIn Christian Coons & Michael Weber (eds.), Paternalism: Theory and Practice, Cambridge University Press. pp. 157--177. 2013.
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39High-fidelity economicsIn J. B. Davis & D. W. Hands (eds.), Elgar Companion to Recent Economic Methodology, Edward Elgar Publishers. pp. 94. 2011.
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25Happiness and well‐being: Is it all in your head? Evidence from the folkNoûs. forthcoming.Despite a voluminous literature on happiness and well‐being, debates have been stunted by persistent dissensus on what exactly the subject matter is. Commentators frequently appeal to intuitions about the nature of happiness or well‐being, raising the question of how representative those intuitions are. In a series of studies, we examined lay intuitions involving happiness‐ and well‐being‐related terms to assess their sensitivity to internal (psychological) versus external conditions. We found t…Read more
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488The concept of a good life is usually assumed by philosophers to be equivalent to that of well-being, or perhaps of a morally good life, and hence has received little attention as a potentially distinct subject matter. In a series of experiments participants were presented with vignettes involving socially sanctioned wrongdoing toward outgroup members. Findings indicated that, for a large majority, judgments of bad character strongly reduce ascriptions of the good life, while having no impact at…Read more
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407In an important and widely discussed series of studies, Jonathan Phillips and colleagues have suggested that the ordinary concept of happiness has a substantial moral component. For in- stance, two persons who enjoy the same extent of positive emotions and are equally satisfied with their lives are judged as happy to different degrees if one is less moral than the other. Considering that the relation between morality and happiness or self-interest has been one of the central questions of moral p…Read more
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1Well-being policy : consensus hallmarks and cultural variationIn James Dominic Rooney & Patrick Zoll (eds.), Beyond Classical Liberalism: Freedom and the Good, Routledge Chapman & Hall. 2024.
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80Against HappinessColumbia University Press. 2023.The “happiness agenda” is a worldwide movement that claims that happiness is the highest good, happiness can be measured, and public policy should promote happiness. Against Happiness is a thorough and powerful critique of this program, revealing the flaws of its concept of happiness and advocating a renewed focus on equality and justice. Written by an interdisciplinary team of authors, this book provides both theoretical and empirical analysis of the limitations of the happiness agenda. The aut…Read more
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27In an important and widely discussed series of studies, Jonathan Phillips and colleagues have suggested that the ordinary concept of happiness has a substantial moral component. For in- stance, two persons who enjoy the same extent of positive emotions and are equally satisfied with their lives are judged as happy to different degrees if one is less moral than the other. Considering that the relation between morality and happiness or self-interest has been one of the central questions of moral p…Read more
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44Well-Being and HealthJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 46 (6): 645-655. 2021.This introduction to the special issue on well-being and health explores the ways that philosophical inquiry into well-being can play a productive role in understanding health and medicine. We offer an explanation of the concept of well-being, central theories of well-being, and how these key topics, along with other cutting-edge issues such as disability and cross-cultural reflections, can contribute to the discourse on the nature of health and medicine. We also provide brief overviews of the e…Read more
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17Economics and Happiness: Framing the Analysis, edited by Luigino Bruni and Pier Luigi Porta. Cambridge University Press, 2005, xii + 366 pages (review)Economics and Philosophy 25 (2): 217-223. 2009.
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155Moral Monsters and SaintsThe Monist 85 (2): 260-284. 2002.This paper argues for the moral significance of the notion of an evil person or character. First, I argue that accounts of evil character ought to support a robust bad/evil distinction; yet existing theories cannot plausibly do so. Consequentialist and related theories also fail to account for some crucial properties of evil persons. Second, I sketch an intuitively plausible “affective-motivational” account of evil character. Third, I argue that the notion of evil character, thus conceived, deno…Read more
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122Is Construct Validation Valid?Philosophy of Science 83 (5): 1098-1109. 2016.What makes a measure of well-being valid? The dominant approach today, construct validation, uses psychometrics to ensure that questionnaires behave in accordance with background knowledge. Our first claim is interpretive—construct validation obeys a coherentist logic that seeks to balance diverse sources of evidence about the construct in question. Our second claim is critical—while in theory this logic is defensible, in practice it does not secure valid measures. We argue that the practice of …Read more
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13Happiness and the Metaphysics of AffectLes Ateliers de l'Éthique / the Ethics Forum 17 (1-2): 81-111. 2022.Daniel M. Haybron Cet article présente une catégorie de conditions fonctionnelles pour aborder certaines difficultés qui ont surgi dans le travail philosophique sur la nature du bonheur. Dans des travaux antérieurs, j’ai défendu une théorie du bonheur comme état émotionnel selon laquelle être heureux consiste essentiellement en des états dispositionnels, tels que la propension à une humeur détendue ou ravie. Les conceptions hédonistes du bonheur, qui le réduisent à des expériences de plaisir, on…Read more
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20In Lieu of an Environmental EthicThe Harvard Review of Philosophy 29 89-120. 2022.This paper argues that a specifically environmental ethic is neither needed nor perhaps desirable for effecting the change in values for which many environmentalists have rightly called. Rather, familiar values such as beauty and excellence, and especially an outlook that regards those values as central aspects of a good life, may be all that is needed. The requisite ethic of appreciation is already embedded to some degree in a wide range of cultures, so no radical shift in values is called for,…Read more
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17In Lieu of an Environmental EthicThe Harvard Review of Philosophy 29 89-120. 2022.This paper argues that a specifically environmental ethic is neither needed nor perhaps desirable for effecting the change in values for which many environmentalists have rightly called. Rather, familiar values such as beauty and excellence, and especially an outlook that regards those values as central aspects of a good life, may be all that is needed. The requisite ethic of appreciation is already embedded to some degree in a wide range of cultures, so no radical shift in values is called for,…Read more
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35Comments on Badhwar, Well-Being: Happiness in a Worthwhile LifeJournal of Value Inquiry 50 (1): 195-207. 2016.
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63The Quality of Life: Aristotle Revised, by Richard KrautMind 129 (515): 947-956. 2020.The Quality of Life: Aristotle Revised, by KrautRichard. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. x + 249.
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115Happiness, the Self and Human FlourishingUtilitas 20 (1): 21-49. 2008.The psychological condition of happiness is normally considered a paradigm subjective good, and is closely associated with subjectivist accounts of well-being. This article argues that the value of happiness is best accounted for by a non-subjectivist approach to welfare: a eudaimonistic account that grounds well-being in the fulfillment of our natures, specifically in self-fulfillment. And self-fulfillment consists partly in authentic happiness. A major reason for this is that happiness, concei…Read more
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61What do we Want from a Theory of Happiness?Metaphilosophy 34 (3): 305-329. 2003.I defend a methodology for theorizing about happiness. I reject three methods: conceptual analysis; scientific naturalism; and the “pure normative adequacy” approach, where the best conception of happiness is the one that best fills a role in moral theory. The concept of happiness is a folk notion employed by laypersons who have various practical interests in the matter, and theories of happiness should respect this fact. I identify four such interests in broad terms and then argue for a set of …Read more
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36On Being Happy or UnhappyPhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 71 (2): 287-317. 2005.The psychological condition of being happy is best understood as a matter of a person's emotional condition. I elucidate the notion of an emotional condition by introducing two distinctions concerning affect, and argue that this “emotional state” view is probably superior on intuitive and substantive grounds to theories that identify happiness with pleasure or life satisfaction. Life satisfaction views, for example, appear to have deflationary consequences for happiness’ value. This would make h…Read more
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14Review: Nicholas White, A Brief History of Happiness (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 85 (3): 729-732. 2011.
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160Well-Being Policy: What Standard of Well-Being?Journal of the American Philosophical Association 1 (4): 712--733. 2015.ABSTRACT:This paper examines the norms that should guide policies aimed at promoting happiness or, more broadly, well-being. In particular, we take up the question of which conception of well-being should govern well-being policy, assuming some such policies to be legitimate. In answer, we lay out a case for ‘pragmatic subjectivism’: given widely accepted principles of respect for persons, well-being policy may not assume any view of well-being, subjectivist or objectivist. Rather, it should pro…Read more
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Happiness and Ethical Inquiry: An Essay in the Psychology of Well-BeingDissertation, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick. 2001.Ethical theorists often refer to the psychological condition of happiness as a crucial part, if not the whole, of human well-being. Yet few have made a serious effort to determine just what this condition is. For the most part theorists have either assumed or stipulated a particular conception of happiness, or simply taken happiness to be whatever their preferred axiology deems important. This dissertation aims to shed light on the nature of human well-being by taking seriously the psychological…Read more
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36Earth’s Abominations: Philosophical Studies of Evil (edited book)BRILL. 2002.This book philosophically explores a wide range of subjects relating to evil and human wickedness, including the nature of evil, explaining evil, evil and moral responsibility, and responding to evil.
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205Happiness: A Very Short IntroductionOxford University Press. 2013.Most of us spend our lives striving for happiness. But what is it? How important is it? How can we (and should we) pursue it? In this Very Short Introduction Dan Haybron provides a comprehensive look at the nature of happiness. By using examples, Haybron considers how we measure happiness, what makes us happy, and considers its subjective nature
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103The Proper Pursuit of HappinessRes Philosophica 90 (3): 387-411. 2013.What are the norms governing the pursuit of happiness? Presumably not just anything goes. But are the rules any more interesting than platitudes like “do whatworks, as long as you don’t hurt anyone”? Such questions have become especially salient in light of the development of positive psychology. Yet so far these matters have received relatively little attention, most of it from skeptics who doubt that the pursuit of happiness is an important, or even legitimate, enterprise. This paper examines …Read more
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25Review: Ed Diener, Richard Lucas, Uli Schimmack, and John Helliwell, Well-Being for Public Policy (review)Philosophical Explorations. forthcoming.
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